Walter j



' W. J. DREW. V CARPET SWEEPBR.

(No Model.)

No. 388,768. Patented Aug.- 28, 1888.

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iJnTTEn STATEs IVALTE t J. DREW, OF GRAND RAPIDS,

PATENT EErcE,

MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE BISSELII )ARIET SIVEEPER COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CARPET-SWEEPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 388,768, dated August 28 1888.

Application filed February 2, 1888. Serial No. 252,723. (No modehi To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, IVALTER J. DREW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of iifichigan, have invented new and useful Iniprovenicnts in Carpet-Sweepers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide novel means for opening and automatically closing the dust pan or pans of a carpetswccper, and to provide a novel spring-wire of such construction and so applied that the wire forms in itself aprcssurebar to open the pan by pressing upon the wire, and which, by its inherent elasticity, when relieved of press nre will automatically close the pan.

The invention consists in the several novel fcatu res of construction and new combinations of parts hereinafter fully set forth, and defi nitely pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation of a sweeper in which myinvention is embodied. Fig. 2 is a top plan view, partly in section, of one end portion of the sweeper. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective of the (lumping device removed from the casing. Fi i is an end elevation of a sweeper, showa I I ing a slightlymodificd construction.

In the said drawings, the referencenumeral 1 indicates the sweeper casing or box, which may be of any known or desired form, having a brush-roller, with pans 2 arranged upon 0p posite sides thereof. These pans are pivotally mounted, in the usual manner, upon pins 3set in the end walls of the casing.

Upon the exterior face of one of the end walls of the casing is mounted the dumping device, consisting of a single piece of wire bent, as shown in 3, into two similar angular or \I-shaped portions, 1, connected together by a central U-shaped portion, 5, which is bent at or nearly at a right angleto the plane in which the \l-shaped parts i lie. At the apex of the angle in each of the portions last-named the wire is bent to form a loop or eye, 6, turned outwardly from the angular portion 4,t0 serve as a rest for the finger of the operator in using the sweeper. At the free ends of the arms 4,

forming part of the \j-shaped portions 4, are inwardlybent portions 7, which pass through 8 in the edge of the end wall shallow notches of the casing and engage with openingsin the ends of the pans, said openings being removed from the pivotal points 3, upon which the pans turn. The dumping device thus constructed is applied to the end wall of the casing by cutting thercin a slot, 9, and inserting the U- shaped central portion,5, which proiectsinsidc the casing. There are many ways in which the parts may be secured in this position; but a simple and inexpensive fastening is formed by extending the plate 10, which contains the bearing 12 for the handle, and bending the prolonged portion 13 inward to enter the slot 9, between the converging arms of the Ushaped portion 5, which impinges upon the edges of the plate, and are held firmly in place. When thus constructed and attached, the (lumping device will have two of the arms of the con verging or angular portions 4: lying in lines which approximate toward parallelism with the top of the casing, and the hand-holds or loops 6 will be near the upper angles of the box in convenient position for operation.

In operating the pans pressure upon the loops 6 will cause them to move through a limited are, of which the adjacent arm of the U shaped portion 5 is the center. The pivotal point 7 wiil also move in arcs, of which the pivot-pins 3 are the centers. In throwing the pans open the pivotal point 7 approaches the point of rigid attachment of the other arm of the V-shaped section by a very limited distance, and thereby the elastic tension to be overcome in throwing the pans open is but little greater than that exerted in holding said pans closed. The inherent elasticity of the portions composing the angularly-bent wire acts to automatically close the pans after such wire is released from. the pressure of the fingers.

By the construction thus set forth the dumping devices for both pans are formed of one integral piece of wire. It should be noted, however, that I may construct the device operating each pan in a separate piece or part, as seen in Fig. 4. In this form of construction, instead of fastening the dumping device, as shown in 1, I may attach one end, 14, of each device at a point, 15, on the end of the sweeper, said point being comparatively near the point of pivotal attachment of the other arm. Aside from the fact that these devices are constructed in separate pieces, and are each rigidly connected to the casing in the manner set forth, whereby their extremities are brought into comparative propinquity, they are not essentially different from the de' vices shown in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, being each formed in a single piece, having a similar hand-hold and operating in substantially the same manner. It will be noted, however, that by reason of the different location of the point of attachment the ends of the arms shown in Fig. 4 will approach each other as the pan is opened, thereby producing a constant increase in elastic tension.

I may connect the devices shown in Fig. 4 to the casing by angle-plates 15, or in any other suitable manner. It will be seen from the foregoing that Iprovide an angular spring wire which in itself forms a pressure-bar to open a pan by pressing upon the wire, and which, by its inherent elasticity, will, when relieved of pressure from the hand, automatically close such pan. It will also be seen that the invention can be used to operate one or two pans of a carpet-sweeper.

What I claim is- 1. The combination, with a carpet-sweeper casing and its pivoted dust-pan, of an angular wire having a fixed point of attachment to the casing and connected with the pan and forming in itself a pressure-bar to open the pan by pressing upon the wire, and which by its casing and its dust-pans, of a single piece of spring-Wire secured to the casing and angularly bent and extending to and connected at its opposite extremities to the pans to form pressure-bars for opening the pans, and which by their inherent elasticity automatically close the pans, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof-I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NV ALTER J. DREWV.

\Vitnesses:

ARTHUR O. DENISON, Units. B. J UDD. 

